Why are phony "hate crimes" so common, especially on college campuses?

Oh really? Phony hate crimes are common? Taranto arrives at this
conclusion from ... a single case? (He later cites two cases of phony
hate crimes ... from thirty and twenty years ago, respectively. Neither
were on a college campus.)

Where is the data to back up this claim? Can Taranto show us any more cases of phony hate-crime
reports from college campuses? Yes, there have been some (we know of a
few others), but just how many are there? Enough to claim that it's
"common"?

Contrast this to what Taranto says about real hate crimes:

Oppression of minorities, and certainly of women, scarcely exists in America in the 21st century. Genuine hate crimes happen, but they are very rare.

So, in order for hate-crime hoaxes to be "common" they either have to
number quite a few more than 6,222 a year (when in fact the number is
probably closer to 6), or Taranto has to be claiming that the vast
majority of hate crimes prosecuted in this country annually are
"hoaxes." I'm sure the prosecutors and police who pursued those crimes
and reported them to the FBI's database will be interested to know the
latter, if that's the case.

Or more likely, Taranto is just indulging in his favorite right-wing
pastime: Inverting reality on its head by trumpeting anomalistic
incidents as representative.

Federal law has required states to collect hate crime
data since the early 1990s. Congress has defined a hate crime as a
"criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in
part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic
origin or sexual orientation."
But states don't have to report their data to the FBI if they don't
want to. Four states -- Indiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Ohio --
don't even have a Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.

The result, critics say, is a federal data system that costs $1
million-plus but offers very little help to authorities who investigate,
identify and track hate crimes.

"We can only report by the numbers we are given," said the FBI's
Michelle Klimt, who says the lack of data could be because of a lack of
state funding.

In states that do have UCR programs, the FBI offers training for state and local law enforcement on how to collect and report hate crime data.

On Capitol Hill, 26 senators have asked U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder to expand UCR programs to include tracking of hate crimes against
Hindus, Arabs and Sikhs. Last year's deadly attack on a Wisconsin Sikh
temple raised awareness about crimes targeting Sikhs.

"Without accurate, nuanced reporting of these crimes, it is more
difficult for federal, state, and local law enforcement to assess and
respond to the particular threat that the Sikh community faces," the
senators said last month in a letter to Holder.

If authorities don't know how many hate crimes are committed, it's
difficult to get an accurate picture of whether hate crime laws are
effective.

No, James Taranto, the real question is: Why are phony hate crimes
such an object of fetishization by right-wing apologists, when in fact
they are relatively rare?

Sara Robinson has worked as an editor or columnist for several national magazines, on beats as varied as sports, travel, and the Olympics; and has contributed to over 80 computer games for EA, Lucasfilm, Disney, and many other companies. A native of California's High Sierra, she spent 20 years in Silicon Valley before moving to Vancouver, BC in 2004. She currently is pursuing an MS in Futures Studies at the University of Houston. You can reach her at srobinson@enginesofmischief.com.